I think AAP has bagged Delhi. That part becomes clear when one sees the percentage of votes cast. Rule of thumb is for anti incumbency - percentage of votes cast ought to be 60% at the very minimum or more.That doesn't seem to be The case in Delhi.The only thing that remains to be seen is the margin of victory.
In many ways the current voting trends hark back to It's era where people voted in a particular pattern for Central elections & differently for local elections be it state or ZP / Panchayat / Municipal elections.
How will this impact the anti CAA protests? This particular election result will be be painted as a referendum on the CAA by everybody from the opposition, the Muslims , the anti Modi press, etc although the impact of Shaheen Bagh & the anti CAA protests had little to do with voting patterns in Delhi. This election was contested on local issues & the people there voted on it. It's a welcome development although I'm not a fan of either AAP or Khujliwal's brand of politics.
Finally this serves as a wake up call to Modi but more so to the BJP & the RSS. Modi has to revive the economy from the slump it has sunk into ASAP. From the BJP's point of view they need to rear a new generation of leaders across the nation. There's only so much Brand Modi can deliver. Beyond a certain point, the law of diminishing returns will catch up. For the RSS, the same lessons hold true as that for the BJP.
Modi is 70 years old. He has more of a past than a future. A dedicated Cadre , a robust party & organizational machinery along with ideology & a perception of honesty & transparent governance can only deliver that much. Leadership is of essence here. Is it any wonder that inspite of having all this for decades in Kerala, the electoral returns are negligible.
Ditto for Bihar & WB, though in both these cases the BJP is faring much better as compared to Kerala but do you see a leader who can take over after Nitish Kumar exits the scene or someone who can take on Mamata? These are questions that the RSS / BJP must answer if they're serious about being a credible force across the country for the foreseeable future.